Brisbane is preparing to dazzle the tennis world next January. Today’s official launch of the latest addition to the world tennis tour, the Brisbane International, unveiled an exciting array of plans to showcase the event and city for the expected influx of tennis-related visitors, as well as a large national and international broadcast audience.

“The Brisbane International will be broadcast on the Seven Network nationally for seven days, culminating in Sunday afternoon’s men’s singles final,” Tournament director Steve Ayles said. “Those pictures will also be beamed around the world, including the United States and major markets in Asia and Europe.”

The event will be played at a stunningly picturesque riverside site at Tennyson in the state-of-the-art Queensland Tennis Centre.

“The Queensland Government is to be congratulated for the commitment they are showing to tennis in Queensland through the construction of a world-class venue capable of hosting a combined event at this level,” said Steve Ayles.

“Outstanding facilities are a cornerstone of the future growth of tennis in our country and Queensland has set the benchmark in this,” Ayles added.

The combined event will launch the impressive new stadium, which features a 5500 seat capacity covered arena and two further covered show courts with temporary seating for 2000 during the event.

The open-sided translucent roof structure over centre court will make for comfortable conditions for both players and spectators alike. The roof will also minimise any disruption to play due to inclement weather.

Hopefully the whole tennis centre is coming along nicely too compared to the last time I saw it

No problem

I actually went to have a look at the centre last weekend. They have started to lay the plexicushion on the outside courts and the lights have been delivered to put in place. Once they have done both of these things, they also have to clean up the entire site, plant trees and shrubs, provide seating, erect permanent fences etc etc etc. I think they will be ready on time. There is an AMT scheduled for the Centre in early December, about 6 weeks away.

Davis Cup tennis could return to Queensland, sports officials say.
Rafter Arena, a 5500-seat centre court arena inside the new $82 million Queensland Tennis Centre being built at Tennyson, was officially named after tennis ace Pat Rafter this morning.

---------------------PHOTOS: Tour Rafter ArenaPHOTOS: Pat Rafter through the years---------------------
Rafter, who was born in Mt Isa and who won the US Open in 1997 and 1998 , said he was delighted his name would become the Queensland equivalent of Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena - home of the Australian Open.
"It's a huge honour," said the former tennis great, once ranked the number one player in the world.
"I got a phone call about a month ago and they said my name was in the mix and would I be happy to have an arena named after me.
"It is one of those things that, as a kid you, never expect to happen.
"And you've seen in Melbourne they have the Rod Laver Arena and now to have an arena named after myself is a huge, huge thrill."
Sports Minister Judy Spence said the new facilities meant it was possible a Davis Cup tie could be played at the new arena.
"It would be up to Tennis Australia to do those negotiations, but the Queensland Government would certainly be 100 per cent behind it," Ms Spence said.
Premier Anna Bligh added: "But the quality and standard of this stadium certainly make it possible for us to apply.
"This stadium meets the Davis Cup standard."
Ms Spence said Tennis Australia was realistic about the size of the stadium, which features a fixed roof with large open spaces to allow breezes to freshen hot centre court conditions over summer.
Stephen Ayles, of Tennis Australia,said Rafter Arena and the new Queensland Tennis Centre gave Brisbane a strong case to host a Davis Cup tie in the future.

"This is a quality venue, unlike any other venue in Australia wirth all the surfaces," Mr Ayles said.

Hesaid the centre met all the design specifications required for a Davis Cup round.

"I think it would be fantastic for Queensland after eight years to have the Davis Cup here again.

"I think there is a very strong chance."
The Queensland Tennis Centre will open in time to host the 2009 Brisbane International men's and women's hardcourt championship, to begin on January 4.
Male stars Marcos Baghdatis, Novak Djokovic and Wilfred Tsonga and female top ranking player Ana Ivanovic have already been recruited to play in the tournament.
The new tennis centre has 15 (sic, there are 17 including centre court) hard courts, four clay courts and two grass courts, making it one of the few tennis facilities in the world offering all three surfaces.Spectators will be encouraged to use public transport to get to the tennis centre, catching either buses, trains to Yeerongpilly or Tennyson stations, Premier Anna Bligh said."The ticket price, as is the case with either Suncorp or The Gabba will include the cost of public transport," she said."There's train line right out front and we will be encouraging people to jump on a bus, jump on a train."This has been working very well in our other stadiums."Ms Spence said the possibility of a CityCat river stop was being investigated with Brisbane City Council.

I'm glad the centre court is named after Rafter
He is such a wonderful ambassador to Aussie tennis (oh & QLD tennis as well too), such a wonderful sport on the court as well too & you could never say such a bad word about him.

I actually went to have a look at the centre last weekend. They have started to lay the plexicushion on the outside courts and the lights have been delivered to put in place. Once they have done both of these things, they also have to clean up the entire site, plant trees and shrubs, provide seating, erect permanent fences etc etc etc. I think they will be ready on time. There is an AMT scheduled for the Centre in early December, about 6 weeks away.

Cool. Glad that all of the outside courts have plexicushion on them now